'Sports should unite, not create distance' - Asghar Afghan reacts after Asif Ali-Fareed Ahmad on-field spat

Often it is said that the on-field performances influence the sentiment and feelings of the crowd in the stands. A similar after-effect was observed in the game between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday in Sharjah. During a crunch moment, Afghan pacer Fareed Ahmad dismissed Asif Ali, who was going all guns blazing to take Pakistan home.

Ahmad went a little ahead and celebrated a wicket in front of Ali, who was irked by the bowler. As a result, the batter raised his bat in a violent manner against the pacer and warned him. In the end, the pacer Naseem Shah hit two sixes in the final over to help Pakistan win a nail-biter and the whole Pakistan team celbrated aggressively.

Although things ended on the ground, the Afghan crowd had an ugly spat with the Pakistan supporters in the stands. After the videos and photos surfaced on social media platforms, the cricket fraternity was left stunned by the behaviour of fans. In this regard, the former Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan spoke on the issue ahead of the game between India and Afghanistan.

“It’s the bowlers/batter’s right to display aggression and celebrate on the ground, but the fans should just enjoy it as a game. Sports have the duty to unite countries and not create distance. I think politics and other things should be kept away from the game,” said Asghar Afghan via 'BatBricks7 presents Run Ki Runneeti' on CricTracker. “Sometimes the crowd get emotional, but as a cricketer, I think this shouldn’t have happened. I congratulate Pakistan for their performance, and it was hard luck for Afghanistan.”

In their last Asia Cup fixture against India, Afghanistan could score 111/8 against India and lost by 101 runs, with the top contribution of Ibrahim Zadran (64*). For India, Virat Kohli hit 122*, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar scalped five wickets.